Founder of the Perez Chapel International, Bishop Charles Agyinasare, has condemned so-called pastors who fondle their church members all in the name of deliverance.

He bemoaned the advent of “fake” pastors who are taking advantage of innocent people under the pretense of delivering them or performing miracles.

Bishop Agyinasare condemned such practices, warning that “if we don’t do something about our Christian ministry, very soon we’ll be recording a Jim Jones – (An American pastor who founded the Peoples Temple cult and caused over 900 of his followers to commit revolutionary suicide in Guyana in November 1978) – because we have all kinds of people [in Christian ministry].”

Preaching to a congregation on Sunday, 29 April at the Perez Dome, the Bishop condemned so-called pastors who are using God’s name to mislead their congregants.

“If you google right now, you’ll see a pastor who told a church member, a woman, to remove her panties in church. How do you tell a woman to remove her panties in church? If the person is not your wife, even in private you don’t tell the person to remove their panties,” he fumed.

“Mostly some of these problems are caused by people under the guise of working miracles or delivering people from demons”, adding: “It is true Jesus said in His name we would cast out devils and lay hands on the sick, but He did not say we would put the demon possessed in chains like it is happening in some prayer camps. He did not say we would give them concoctions to be delivered like some are spraying insecticides into the mouth of church members for deliverance [while] others are given toilet detergents – Dettol – to drink.”

He added that the Ministry of Religious Affairs must strengthen Church Councils such as the Catholic Secretariat, Christian Council, Ghana Pentecostal & Charismatic Council, National Association of Christian & Charismatic Churches, among others.

This, he said, should develop into a policy where pastors can only be recognized if they are affiliated to any of the aforementioned councils.

According to Bishop Agyinasare, pastors should not be able to “bless marriages or deal with government in the position of a pastor if you do not belong to any of the councils”.